Join us for a a special Shabbat performance with Samuel Torjman Thomas and Jeremy Brown!

Samuel Torjman Thomas, PhD 
ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist

Dr. Torjman Thomas is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, oud, nay), vocalist (Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish), and founder and artistic director of ASEFA and the New York Andalus Ensemble. He teaches ethnomusicology and Sephardic Jewish Studies at City University of New York, and is a faculty member for both the ALEPH and Academy of Jewish Religion Cantorial Programs. He is also the Director of Musical Arts at the Sephardic Community Center.

Dr. Torjman Thomas performs musics of North Africa, the Middle East, and Global Jazz. His scholarship centers on musics of the Middle East and North Africa, worldwide Jewish musics, and jazz-based traditions. He is a frequent guest speaker, ḥazzan, and facilitator in ecumenical spaces, cultural institutions, and music and spiritual retreats worldwide.

Jeremy Brown

After many years steeped in the Americana traditions associated with bluegrass, including forays into jazz and classical, this West Coast virtuoso is now an in-demand and central figure on New York’s lively Jewish music scene. Jeremy Brown traverses the Diasporic realm of violin traditions, slipping between Klezmer-induced hyper horas and mind-bending Mesopotamian maqams with ease and fluidity. He performs and records with many artists including Golem, Eitan Katz, Frank London, Pitom, ASEFA, and the New York Andalus Ensemble. His first solo album, "This Year in St. Louis", was released in 2001.

****If you would like a link to our Zoom services, please email ajia.collins@betshalom.org****

Led by our clergy, all Friday evening Erev Shabbat Services begin at 6:00 pm. Join us in person or via Zoom.